


Not so great

by Mful



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:00:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7318081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mful/pseuds/Mful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec loses his memory. Magnus tries not to slap him into remembering again.  Overall, it's not that great of a day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Everything hurt

Alec had never been one to complain about physical pain. On the contrary, he usually dismissed his wounds and injuries to the point where it became dangerous to his health. Keeping that in mind, he had never been in such a pain before in his life. Not even that time when Isabelle accidentally stepped through his foot with her high heel. This was much, much worse.

First of all, Alec’s head felt like someone was stabbing it with a rusty old knife. Or maybe someone had placed a really pointy rock under his head instead of a pillow. There was no other explanation to the drilling pain in his brain. 

Second of all, his lungs felt like they were burning every time he breathed in. He tried to hold his breath for a while but soon realized that oxygen-deprivation didn’t hurt any less. Also, he was pretty sure he had at least a few broken ribs. The air was also filled with the smell of something rotten that made him want to throw up. Surprisingly it didn’t make him feel any better.

Irritated, Alec tried to move his fingers a little but stopped when the stabbing pain in his right arm got too intense. Like someone was pouring gasoline in his veins. He did the same motion with his toes and was relieved to notice that at least some of his limbs weren’t useless. He tried to shift his weight around a bit and whined when his bruised back rubbed against the sheets that felt like broken glass. What kind of masochist had designed his bed?

“Alec?” a concerned voice asked from somewhere near him. “Are you awake?” the voice – woman’s – asked and Alec could feel her brushing his bangs off his forehead. That reminded Alec that he really needed to get a haircut. The floppy strands had gotten irritatingly long, hovering over his eyes. He hadn’t even noticed it before. Funny how you can suddenly notice anything irrelevant when trying to ignore your body trying to kill itself

Oh right, the woman had spoken to him.

Alec tried to answer but only got some grunts out. God his lungs hurt like hell. 

“Is he awake?” this time a familiar man’s voice shouted from somewhere far. It was definitely Jace. Alec could recognize his voice anywhere. Though Jace sounded uncharacteristically tense and worried. Jace’s problems would have to wait though, Alec had enough problems right now on his own. One of them being that his bed had apparently been changed into some torture device.

Alec heard footsteps come closer, echoing in his room. It wasn’t Jace thought. The footsteps were too light, almost cat-like.

“He hasn’t opened his eyes, but I heard him making some noises… I think he’s in pain”, the woman said. Alec was getting irritated. These people coming to his bedroom and talking over him like he wasn’t there! If he wasn’t in such a mind-numbing pain he would tell them all to go away and let him sleep. And what was up with that grunting and shouting that could be heard from the distance. 

“Do you want me to sedate him”, a pleasant low voice asked. Alec had never heard the voice before, but he liked it. He hoped that the man would speak some more. However, when the woman said yes, Alec felt a cold hand on his forehead. “I’m sorry Alexander, this is all my fault.” 

Alec felt his consciousness slipping away. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The second time Alec woke up it didn’t hurt so much. Yes, everything still hurt, but not in the I-was-ran-over-by-a-bulldozer-while-being-stabbed-in-the-brain-by-twenty-pencils kind of way. Even his bed didn’t feel so bad anymore. 

Alec did the same routine as before, moving his limbs little-by-little. His right arm still hurt like hell and the headache was getting back, but other than that, he felt a bit better. Like after a night of heavy drinking. He felt like he may be able to open his eyes.

Big mistake.

Even though the curtains were closed, the lamp on Alec’s nightstand shone brightly like the sun, violating his still disoriented mind. Alec cursed under his breath and brought his left hand to cover his eyes. His headache was definitely getting worse.

“Oh, you woke up”, said a cheery voice from somewhere above Alec, “I was beginning to wor- ngh!”

The voice was cut off by Alec who flung his left arm forward and grabbed the man’s shirt. Alec pulled down with the little strength he had, and threw the man violently on his bed. He climbed on top of the man and pulled out the knife he kept under his mattress. 

Alec placed the knife on the man’s throat and grabbed his wrists.

“Whoa! I don’t think I’m ready for BDSM yet, how about we set some rules, hmm?” the man tried to joke. His voice cracked though, and the nervous look on his face gave him away.

Alec was panting on top off him, feeling a bit disoriented. Everything hurt. His right arm was on fire and it felt like it might fall off any minute. He felt dizzy due to the sudden movement and needed a little time to catch his breath. He was not in the mood for jokes.

“Who the hell are you?” Alec asked in a raspy voice. His throat felt dry. He hadn’t noticed just how thirsty he was until now. The man blinked a few times looking a bit unsure about himself. Alec felt irritated. He pressed the knife a bit harder.

“I won’t ask again.”

Alec could have sworn the man’s eyes flashed golden for a second. 

“What the hell are you doing!” a familiar voice yelled behind Alec and suddenly he felt arms yanking him off the strange man. Alec tried to brush Jace off, but due to his weakened state he was no match for him. Jace twisted Alec’s wrist, taking the knife, and yanked Alec off the bed. Alec fell to floor, his legs unable to hold him up.

“Magnus, you okay?” Jace asked and helped the unknown man up from the bed where Alec had thrown him. 

“What the hell Jace…” Alec complained while rubbing his abused wrist, still sitting on the floor. His brain was not yet working fast enough to keep up with all this.

“I think that’s something I should be asking…” said the man – apparently named Magnus – while rubbing his throat. He looked a bit offended and gave Alec a funny look. Alec just glared at him. Magnus raised his brow but stayed silent. 

Now that Alec had some distance to the man, he could really look at him properly. He had on a flashy velvet shirt, a purple one with a golden pattern to it. His black pants were extremely tight on all the areas, and his black hair had blonde streaks to it and was on ridiculous spikes. He also had on a heavy make-up and – holy shit, was that glitter? 

The man was, without a doubt, a downworlder. 

Jace sighed and held a hand to his parabatai. “Come on, get up you dork. Are you sleepwalking or something?”

Alec took the hand and rose – not so gracefully – from the floor. Despite being manhandled by Jace only a moment ago, he was glad to see him here. As he always was.

“You okay?” Jace asked sounding tired. He had heavy bags under his eyes and looked like he hadn’t been sleeping for a week. 

“Are you?” Alec asked and frowned a little when Jace just rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’re the one who’s been in a coma for days.”

Well that explained some things. Alec touched his chin absentmindedly. He had a stubble. He hated having a stubble. If he had stubble then he had indeed been unconscious at least for a couple of days. But why? Now that he thought about it, he saw no reason to why his body was in the condition it was. 

Alec looked down at his right arm and saw it heavily bandaged. He frowned a little. Usually the runes healed him. His head was also killing him. The headache getting worse by the minute, banging on his head demanding attention.

“Could we perhaps talk about what just happened?” Magnus asked. For some reason he sounded annoyed and was looking Alec like the shadowhunter had done some great injustice to him. A hand still on his throat, the man’s eyes searched for Alec’s demanding an explanation. 

Alec took a step closer glaring at him. Instinctively Magnus took a step back and bumped to the wall. Jace stepped between them placing a hand on Alec’s chest.

“Easy there, tiger” he said a warning in his voice. For some reason Jace was ready to defend this downworlder against his parabatai. Even though said downworlder had snuck into Alec’s room for God knows what reason when the shadowhunter had been unconscious. Alec didn’t even want to think about how the creature had gotten into the institution.

“Jace what the hell are you doing”, Alec asked calmly - okay maybe not-so-calmly - not taking his eyes of Magnus.

“What am I doing?” Jace repeated his words in disbelief “What are you doing?” he hissed and stepped closer. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

Alec pushed Jace’s hand off of him and pointed at Magnus. “Why is there a downworlder in the institution?” Alec tried to stay calm but he was getting annoyed by all of this. Especially when Jace just stared at him like he was the crazy one in the situation. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Jace was obviously getting angry too. Like Alec was purposely acting dumb.

“It seems the curse has taken a… rather unpredictable turn.” Magnus cut in on the conversation. He was still looking at Alec with that strange expression. Alec answered him with a glare. Magnus sighed and leaned against the wall. “He doesn’t seem to remember me.”

For some reason Jace started laughing. “Yeah, right – wait… You seriously don’t remember him?”

“Should I?” Alec snapped at him, still not taking his eyes off Magnus. He didn’t trust that the downworlder wouldn’t try to kill them both immediately if left unsupervised. Didn’t matter that for some ungodly reason Jace seemed to trust the man enough to show his back to him. So no, the reason Alec was currently staring at Magnus was not because he had that dangerous beauty that all downworlders had, but a healthy dose of survival instinct. Not that Alec even noticed if the man was beautiful or not. Because he didn’t. Definitely.

The man was smiling but Alec could see he was hurt by the comment, for whatever reason. Alec was getting seriously tired of this. Was this some sort of prank? He had no patience for this anymore. His body was feeling heavier, and standing up strained his sore muscles. 

Jace looked back and forth between them and didn’t seem to know what to do.

“Dude, Mag-nus Ba-ne? Ring any bell?” he was speaking slowly like he might have thought Alec had some kind of brain damage. But the name did ring a bell.

“Wait… You mean the Magnus Bane? The high warlock of Brooklyn?” Alec asked and looked at the man in disbelief. He looked more like a singer from a Korean pop group, not an ancient, all-powerful warlock.

“The one and only!” Magnus said dramatically and bowed. “So you have heard of me, ah I’m rather touched”, the man’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. Alec wasn’t threatened by this man, even though he probably could turn the shadowhunter into dust with a flick of his wrist. 

“Whatever, remind me again why there is a warlock in the institution, Jace?” Alec asked trying to sound unimpressed. Jace just looked at him dumbfounded. “You’re not seriously asking that, are you? He’s your bo–“, but Jace was interrupted by no other than the man in question.

“Why, I’ve been you’re caretaker of course. Such a dramatic accident and a curse on top of that! Tsk, tsk, what ever would have happened to you without my magic here to help, hmm?” Magnus said obnoxiously with a smile on his face. It didn’t reach his eyes though. Those beautiful brown ey– 

“You helped me?” Alec asked in disbelief. He didn’t trust the warlock. Hell, his first instinct had been to cut the downworlders throat open.

“Believe it or not…” Magnus hummed. Jace opened his mouth to say something, but a high-pitched scream suddenly cut the air.

“ALEC!”

What now?

Suddenly Alec felt someone slam against his back with a great force. The air got knocked out of his lungs and he would’ve surely fallen right back on the floor if Jace hadn’t been there to help him stay up. 

“What the hell Izzy, the man literally woke up 5 minutes ago?” Jace shouted while making sure Alec stayed on his feet. 

Alec felt arms wrapping around him and hugging him tightly.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m just so glad you’re alive!” Isabelle sobbed on Alec’s back. Alec patted his little sister’s arms awkwardly. “Come on Izzy, I’m fine… Let go please…” he said trying not to sound as pained as he was. Alec hadn’t noticed how sore his back was until Izzy had slammed into it.

Isabelle just shook her head and squeezed tighter. “Seriously, Izzy… Can’t breathe…” Alec said voice a bit strained. He tried to calm his sister down, while Jace was trying to mask his smirk. Not succeeding very well.

“Come on Isabelle, I don’t think strangling him will help his healing process.” A woman’s sound said laughingly by the door. Alec had never heard the voice before but for some reason it irritated him. Like a mosquito buzzing.

At least Isabelle released Alec from her death grip. Giving him a chance to turn around and properly hug her.

“Don’t ever do that again you hear me?” Isabelle said gripping him tight. She looked like she had been crying for a while now, she didn’t even have her usual make-up on. Alec agreed to her sister’s request even though he had no idea what she was referring to. 

“Since when have you been so sentimental”, Alec murmured, planting a little kiss on her hair. She really was her favorite person in the world. Isabella re-released Alec and punched him lightly. “About the time when you started putting your life in danger”, she said smiling a little.

“I’m glad you’re okay”, the woman who was standing by the door said and walked up to Alec. She had bright orange hair and runes all over her body. Even though she was smiling, Alec felt an unpleasant tingling in his neck. She was obviously a shadowhunter. Alec just had no idea who she was.

“Um… thanks, I guess?” Alec answered. He had never been in a more nerve-wrecking situation. He had just woken up from a coma without any knowledge of how he had hurt himself. He would have liked to spend the moment with just his sister and Jace, but here he was. On a room with a warlock and some strange shadowhunter. Everything was happening too fast.

“And who are you?” Alec decided to ask. He wasn’t prepared for the silence that fell on the room. Isabelle and Jace were exchanging some strange looks, while the orange-haired girl just looked at Alec with an open mouth. Suddenly the warlock decided to make his presence known again by walking up to Alec. To his credit, Magnus didn’t come closer when Alec sent him a glare.

“You don’t remember Clary either?” the warlock asked with a curious smirk. He seemed pleased.

“Should I?”


	2. Memories

Magnus furiously stirred his drink with his pinky. He had been doing so for quite some time while angrily glaring at any shadowhunter who dared to get too close. The warlock didn’t exactly feel like drinking. He couldn’t get drunk on mundane alcohol anyway, but it had become sort of a habit of his. Looking stylish and all that façade. It also calmed him a little. To get something to do with his hands so he didn’t go around slapping Alec on the face as many times as it took to get his memory jump-started. 

Speaking of Alexander…

Magnus raised his eyes of his unappetizing drink and glared at the young shadowhunters who were gathered around the monitors in the institution’s hall. Magnus was sitting at the stairs eyeing them up and trying not to send fireballs in every direction.

The shadowhunters were all busy. Ever so energetic Isabelle was yelling in the phone while waving her arms around very dramatically. No doubt trying to get a hold of her parents to talk about Alec’s condition. She didn’t have her make-up or usual interesting clothes on. She looked like she needed a good night’s sleep and Magnus knew that she had barely slept while Alec had been unconscious. 

Jace, who was usually cool under pressure, was now barking orders around to anyone who was willing to listen. He kept cursing under his breath while furiously typing on the computers. He looked like he might pop a vein in his head if someone didn’t slow him down. Or punch him unconscious. Magnus still hadn’t decided which would work better.

Then there was the sweet, sweet Clarissa. Silently standing behind her rabid brother while sending nervous glances in Alec’s direction. Alec on the other hand just glared at Clary, looking extremely grumpy. Apparently the shadowhunter had lost almost a year of his memories. Making him effectively forget his own boyfriend. And also Clarissa. The distrust was clearly there.

Magnus couldn’t stop the little giggle that came out of him upon seeing Alec’s face. The warlock couldn’t remember the last time he saw the boy looking so sour. Well maybe the time when Magnus had “accidentally” lost all of Alec’s shirts and the boy had no choice but to walk around the institution shirtless, trying to get someone to lend him one. Which they didn’t, because Magnus had bribed them. 

Ah, good times.

“Well at least someone’s happy.”

Magnus was so wrapped in his own thoughts he hadn’t noticed Jace walking up to him. The boy looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

“Just thinking about something else, Jace-y.” Magnus hummed and drowned his drink in one gulp. 

“Well isn’t that nice”, Jace said dryly, “we got the preliminary tests back and they didn’t find anything wrong with his brain. It’s your turn.”

“Always happy to serve”, Magnus chirped and winked at Jace. The warlock got up and flicked his wrist, empty glass disappearing into thin air.

“I bet…” Jace murmured while they walked towards the others. Magnus pretended he didn’t hear him.

“Hello again Alexander.” Magnus sat down in the chair in front of Alec and was trying to ignore the hurt he felt because of the way the boy looked at him. Alec really didn’t recognize him. It was obvious by the way the shadowhunter stared at him. With those distrusting and judging eyes. Oh well, at least the blind hatred was gone. 

Be grateful for small victories I guess.

“… You think you can get my memory back?” Alec asked eyeing Magnus up and down like saying that he wouldn’t count on it.

Magnus smiled and wondered if Alec would forgive a fireball in that beautiful face.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“… Really?”

“Really.”

“Okay, well what was the purpose of creeping in my bedroom while I was unconscious then?”

That gave Magnus a pause. The mood was extremely tense. Jace and Clary were exchanging worrying looks, which seemed to annoy Alec. Magnus decided that he would at the least try to solve this conflict civilly. 

“I think I may have given a bad first impression. If you would be so kind as to trust my word when I say that I was only making sure you were alright”, Magnus said while trying to maintain his smile.

Jace snorted. “Yeah, ‘cause Alec here sure gave a real good “first impression” by waving that knife around like a psychopath”, he said. Clary punched him in the arm.

“Hey!” Jace rubbed his arm disgruntled. Clary stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Wow, we so do not have time for this”, Isabelle chimed in for a second until she got back to her phone. 

“Agreed”, Magnus said, “Now Alexander, why don’t you tell us the last thing you remember?”

Alec sighed. “I’ve told you guys a million times. It was a normal day, I finished my paperwork and did some training with Hodge. Then I went to sleep. No amnesia-giving demons, no warlocks and definitely no red-headed shadowhunter-newbies”, he finished glancing at said red-head with a disapproving look. Clary instinctively touched her hair and looked a bit offended. 

“Ah yes, but you see I find it weird that only me and Clarissa have been wiped off of your memory. Makes me wonder why the demon chose that timeframe. There could be something important you have forgotten too, any detail might help us”, Magnus said and tried to stay patient which can be very hard when your should-be-boyfriend is glaring daggers at you like a brat.

Alec grunted and closed his eyes for a second. He had a pained expression on his face. Magnus watched as Alec touched his bandaged arm for a second. The warlock followed the movement off his fingers and suddenly realized why the shadowhunter was so grumpy.

“Are you in pain?” Magnus asked. Alec shot him a stubborn look.

“… It’s nothing, just a little numb”, he said dismissively. Magnus knew that Alec had a lot of pride but this was ridiculous. If the boy couldn’t concentrate because of his wounds, the warlock could certainly do something about it. It was weird though. Like the runes hadn’t healed his arm at all.

Magnus cleared his throat. “Want me to help?” he asked trying to sound as innocent as possible. Which is not easy as a man with glitter on your face. 

Alec’s whole body tensed. His jaw clenched and his eyes got sharper. He glanced around but soon came to the conclusion that Magnus wouldn’t be of danger to him with so many shadowhunters around them. Or maybe the arm really did hurt that much since the boy held it towards Magnus. 

Very slowly as to not startle him, Magnus flicked his fingers and a blue flame covered his hand. Alec flinched a little, but didn’t pull his arm away. Magnus placed his flaming hand on top of the shadowhunters bandages and held it there for a while. The demon’s poison had made a number on Alec’s arm so Magnus couldn’t completely heal it, but he could trick the nerves so it didn’t hurt so much. 

After a few seconds Alec’s impression softened and Magnus pulled his hand away. Something in the shadowhunters eyes had changed. He stared at Magnus right in the eyes like looking for something. Magnus swallowed slowly while maintaining the eye contact. He may have forgotten to breath.

For a second Alec looked like he wanted to say something, but then the moment was gone. The shadowhunter looked away and thanked him quietly.

“Uh... no problem”, Magnus answered and scratched his neck feeling a bit awkward for some reason. He wasn’t really sure what to think anymore. It felt like they had made some progress. Maybe the shadowhunter trusted him a bit more now. Jace cleared his throat.

“So now that that’s out of the way... You think you cloud see what’s up with his brain”, Jace asked. Alec glanced at his parabatai looking annoyed. 

“So what is it exactly that you’re going to do with my brain”, he asked looking back at the warlock. You could hear that he wasn’t very fond of the idea of someone poking inside his head. 

“I’m going to look at your memories. See if I can find some resent ones that you just can’t access.”

Magnus looked at the miserable face Alec was making and almost didn’t want to make the boy endure him anymore. However the warlock was the only one who could do this.

Magnus raised his arms slowly. He tried to make his movements as non-threatening as possible, but Alec still looked a bit startled. Isabelle had finished her phone conversation and was now standing beside Alec, giving a reassuring squeeze to her brother’s shoulder. Magnus changed a look with her. She gave him a nod.

Magnus lifted his hands so that they were almost touching Alec’s temples. It took every bit of power he had not to touch the shadowhunters face. To be so close to him and not touch... It was killing him.

Magnus was pretty sure he was now mirroring Alec’s miserable look. 

“Here I go then”, Magnus gave a warning. Alec jumped a bit when the flames burst in the warlock’s fingertips.

Magnus closed his eyes to concentrate. Also, so he didn’t have to see at the way Alec was looking at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magnus opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Alec.

Shirtless. 

Sweaty. 

Hitting a punching bag.

An embarrassing noise escaped Magnus’s throat. He hoped that it hadn’t happened in the real world too. 

God, how could anyone look so perfect. It wasn’t really fair. Especially when Alec didn’t even realize that he was literally the embodiment of hotness. You could search a dictionary for the word “perfect” and there would be a picture of the shadowhunter’s face. It made Magnus frustrated when Alec didn’t understand this. The warlock just wanted to take a picture of his boyfriend and then rub it on his face until he understood just how hot he was.

Those abs.

Okay maybe Magnus had just drooled a bit. So sue him. This might be the last time he gets to admire Alec so close. At least if they didn’t get his memories back.

Magnus looked around a bit. They were in the institutions training area. The edges of the room were kind of blurry and the colors were faded in some places. It was on old memory. 

Magnus walked up to Alec and touched his shoulder. Well he couldn’t actually touch it since he wasn’t really there, but he kind of hovered over it. “Don’t worry Alec, we’ll get your memories back”, the warlock muttered and closed his eyes. Time to check some more resent memories.

Lunch with Isabelle. Mission with Jace. Some embarrassing moment with a young shadowhunter guy. 

The events were circling around Magnus like movies. Colors blending together, voices disoriented. The floor was gone and the warlock was standing in vast blackness. But at the same time everything was bright. And everywhere there was Alec.

Reading. Doing paperwork. Talking to his parents. Training with Hodge. Sleeping.

Wait. Go back.

Magnus opened his eyes. He was back in the training area. 

There was Alec. Training with Hodge. They were doing hand-to-hand combat. Hodge was smirking and instructing Alec. They were joking around while punching the crap out of each other. It made Magnus sick. Knowing what Hodge would do in the future. How he could just pretend to care about these kids was beyond the warlocks understanding.

This was definitely Alec’s most recent memory. Everything looked sharp and the colors were bright. Kind of like looking at an HDTV. Also the future felt very thin. There weren’t many memories after this.

Magnus spent the rest of the day following Alec around. Trying to find anything pointing to why the demon decided that this would be the last day the shadowhunter would remember. However, the warlock didn’t find anything unusual. It was a normal day just like Alec had described. The only thing that held any interest was some guy bringing Alec a delivery. It was apparently some kind of book from her mother, but the shadowhunter never opened it so there’s that.

It felt weird thought. This Alec was so much different from the one Magnus new. Much more soldier like. The only time the warlock saw Alec smile was when he was with Isabelle. It was kind of sad. 

Magnus tried not to notice the pang of jealousy he felt every time Alec looked at Jace. With that longing sadness. He tried also not to think about the fact that since Alec no longer remembered him, the shadowhunter was still probably in love with his parabatai.

When the night came and Alec went to bed. Magnus stayed beside him. He studied the shadowhunters face as he closed his eyes and went to sleep. It all hurt so much. 

Then it ended. 

As Alec fell asleep the memory ended and Magnus was left to float in the darkness alone. The warlock pinched the bridge of his nose and prepared himself for the next memory he knew would come. 

Surely enough, the colors started to swirl around him and Magnus was once again in Alec’s bedroom.

Except this time he could see himself in there too. Lying on Alec’s bed, while the said shadowhunter was on top of him, pressing a knife to his throat. 

Magnus took a few steps closer to get a good look at Alec’s eyes. They were filled with pure hatred. Towards him. 

Magnus flicked his wrist and the memory paused. Everything went still. The warlock looked down on the bed at himself. And at that pathetic face he was sporting. He had seen enough.

Magnus walked away from the bed and raised his hands. Glowing in gold, he swirled them around a bit. Time to see if he could find anything between these two memories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magnus sighed and opened his eyes. He lowered his hands from Alec’s temples and avoided meeting the shadowhunter’s gaze. He felt everyone in the room staring at him, waiting for good news. Well he had some news at least.

“It’s not the demons doing”, Magnus said flatly, looking at Clary. She felt like the best option. The only one who didn’t make him feel guiltier.

“Well, what is it then?” Isabelle asked worried. Alec was silent. Magnus swallowed.

“I’m not sure”, Magnus said embarrassed. “I mean, I thought it was the curse’s doing, that it was preventing him from remembering, but if that were the case I should have found some traces of memories. Little glimpses here and there. Instead I found literally nothing. Like someone had cut off a part of his mind and taken it away. And the curse can’t do that. And the low-class demon definitely couldn’t have done that so I don’t know what to –“ 

“Okay, okay a little bit slower please”, Jace cut him off when the warlocks babbling started to get faster and faster.

Magnus took a deep breath. “It’s not the demons doing. And I don’t know who took his memories.”

Alec snorted. Magnus finally looked at the shadowhunter. His face was filled with disgust. “So what you’re saying is that we now know even less than before”, Alec said coldly. 

“Alec don’t –“, Isabelle tried to calm his brother but Alec jumped up from his chair. 

“No! I knew the downworlder couldn’t help. This was a waste of time”, he snapped and stormed away. 

“Alec! Where are you going?” Isabelle shouted after her brother, but Alec just kept walking. 

“He doesn’t mean that, he’s just tired”, Isabelle said to Magnus before hurrying after her brother.

“Yes he does...” Magnus muttered. He could physically feel the progress they had made crumpling away. The warlock had never felt so useless before. And the way Clary and Jace were looking at him, their puppy eyes all full off pity, made him just feel more like crap.

“... I need to do some research.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudoses left on the last chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed this one as well! Sorry for all the angst. Next chapter’s from Alec’s POV. We’ll see what that drama queen has to say about all this... Also please leave a comment telling me what you think! :)


	3. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long! Made me happy in a weird way, how many of you were angry at Alec after the last chapter. Hopefully this chapter explains some of his thoughts... He's not that bad, just confused. 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is super long, tell me if you like this or the shorter ones better!

Alec knew he was being a brat, at least on some level. But right now he was just angry. 

Angry at Jace for not having his back and instead defending a downworlder. Angry at Isabelle for having all these expectations for him, to act like the world wasn’t going to shit. Angry at Clary for... well Alec didn’t actually remember anything about Clary that would make him angry but the girl annoyed him none the less.

But most of all, he was angry at Magnus.

And the thing that made him so angry was that the downworlder hadn’t actually done anything worth being angry about. On the contrary, after the show Alec had put up with that knife, the warlock had been nothing but helpful, while respecting Alec’s personal space. 

Somehow it would have been easier if the warlock had actually tried to hurt him in some way. It didn’t sit well with Alec that apparently they were all suddenly friends with downworlders and everyone was somehow okay with that. How the hell did his parents let this go on? Did they even know? Surely it wouldn’t be good for the institutions reputation to have a warlock waltzing around as they pleased.

A warlock who made Alec feel some rather compromising feelings. 

“Alec! Goddammit... Wait up you idiot!” 

Alec stopped and waited for his sister to catch up with him. They were the only ones in the corridor. 

“What?” Alec asked irritated, when Isabelle caught up with him.

“What do you mean what? What the hell was that?” his sister demanded looking furious. Alec couldn’t actually remember the last time he had seen Isabelle so angry.

And again, Alec knew that he was being a brat, but he would rather die than admit it to his sister. So he just shrugged and kept walking. He didn’t really expect Isabelle to just let the matter go, but was still annoyed when his sister followed him.

“So that’s it? A shrug?” she asked, her voice in disbelief. “That’s the only thing I get after all these years.”

So Izzy was going to use the guilt route. Well two could play that game.

Alec made a quick stop and his sister almost slammed into him. He turned to face her.

“I apparently just lost a year of my life and no one seems to know why. So excuse me for not having answers. It’s not like you have any either!” Alec snapped. Then regretted it immediately. It was not Izzy’s fault. She had been through a lot too. The face she was making made Alec feel even more ashamed about how he had behaved. 

“Look I just... Need some time to think”, Alec said. Isabelle nodded and turned on her heels. Her shoulders were tense. 

“You know you’re going to have to talk to Magnus about all of this, eventually”, she said and walked away.

Alec felt like crap.~

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Next day it was raining. 

A loud slamming echoed in the walls of the training room. Alec was the only one there. Well, aside from the poor punching bag that was getting its beat down of the year. Rainy days like these were usually popular for training, but no one had the guts to interrupt Alec. Especially when the rumor about his amnesia went around. No one really knew how to deal with him anymore.

Alec liked training. Disciplined mind in a disciplined body and all that. Plus he didn’t have time to think about his problems while he was whacking something. 

Problems that at the moment, mostly consisted of a certain warlock the shadowhunter couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Jace asked, from behind Alec. Alec gave the bag a one last hit before answering, “I’m not using my right arm so what does it matter. The warlock healed everything else while I was unconscious.”

Alec picked up his towel to dry up some of the sweat. He turned to face Jace.

“Yeah about that... You should really talk to him, y’know?” Jace said. He was playing with the string of his hoodie, absentmindedly. Alec stared at his long fingers. 

“Uh, yeah why would I do that?” Alec asked snapping his gaze away from Jace. Somehow he felt guilty for looking. 

“Well... You did attack him when he was trying to help... And then yell at him for trying to help... Aaand you keep sending these murderous glares at his direction every now and then”, Jace said bluntly. 

Yeah, Alec did feel a bit like an idiot because of that. Not that he would admit it.

“You’re talking like I’m the crazy one. Since when have any of you cared about a downworlder that much”, Alec sighed. He turned his back at Jace and continued his mission of whacking the shit out of the punching back.

“You used to care about him too you know.”

Alec turned around to object but Jace had already left. His words had made him feel uneasy though. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t want to think about it.

“Damn warlock...” He muttered and resumed with his training. 

He was not thinking about the look of betrayal on Magnus’s face when Alec had pulled the knife out. He was not thinking about how warm the blue flames had felt on his temples. And he certainly was not thinking about how he would like to feel those hands on him again.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The rest of the day went on uneventfully. Apparently the warlock had left the institution for the day. Isabelle had also stopped bugging Alec and was giving him the silent treatment instead. Jace on the other hand was giving Alec these judgmental looks every time their eyes met, so Alec didn’t really feel like talking to him either. 

Hence, how he ended up sitting in the library talking to Clary. 

Apparently they had been friends before. Or something. Alec wasn’t really sure. The red-head still rubbed him the wrong way a little bit.

“So could you tell me about the accident”, Alec asked leaning back on his chair, “I know I got maimed by some demon who put a curse on me, but no one told me the details.”

Clary was browsing through some art book. She glanced at Alec, looking a bit uneasy.

“I don’t know... You should really ask Magnus about it”, she said shifting in her seat nervously. Alec sighed.

“Why does everyone keep telling me that? Besides there’s no reason you can’t tell me, I heard you were there when it happened”, Alec kept pressuring. He put on his best kicked puppy face and kept staring at the red-head. One thing Alec had picked up about Clary’s character was that she was extremely empathetic. “I just feel really confused about everything, and knowing what lead to this might help jump-start my memory, don’t you think?”

And just as Alec had suspected, Clary gave in pretty easily.

“Okay, okay. But you got to talk to Magnus too, promise?” she said trying to look stern.

“Cross my heart.”

Clary sighed, put her book down, and started the story.

“Well it was supposed to be an ordinary mission. Just taking care of some weak demons that had been gathering up at this old warehouse by the docks. There were me, you, Jace and Isabelle. Magnus tagged along for err... personal reasons. Anyway, it was all supposed to be a routine job. In and out.”

Clary described the day and the scenery. She stopped once in a while to ask if any of it sounded familiar to Alec. It didn’t.

So apparently they had walked in the warehouse with a GREAT plan. Clary put an emphasis on it since the plan was made by Alec. Figures. 

Once they got in, they found a couple of demons and took them down easily. Everything went well until Jace found a staircase leading underground. Dumb as they were, they of course checked it out. Except no one took into account that it would be a huge maze full of demons.

“We got separated. You and Magnus were together, and I was with Jace. Isabelle went on ahead alone”, Clary told. She looked like she rather wouldn’t be remembering the whole thing. None the less, she continued.

“Jace and I were in this big room. There were at least five demons there, but we took care of them together. Then there was this huge explosion in another room and Jace suddenly collapsed. He said that he felt something happen to you. So naturally we ran to the other room to see what had happened and...” 

Clary’s voice trailed off. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“It’s okay, you can tell me”, Alec said. His voice was quiet.

Clary opened her eyes.

“And we saw you. On the ground…” Clary whispered, “You were covered in blood. I’ve never seen anyone look like... I don’t want to elaborate on that.” She wiped her eyes which had started to water up. Alec felt like throwing up. 

“There was smoke everywhere. And demons. And Magnus was... Just standing there. Over you. Keeping this barrier up so the demons couldn’t get to you.” Clary looked at Alec, smiling. “He kept you alive.”

Alec felt his debt to the warlock just growing. “So what happened then?” he asked. Clary chuckled.

“Jace lost it. Just started killing any demon he could. I ran to check on you. You were mumbling about people intruding your bedroom. It was kind of funny. That’s when Magnus sedated you”, Clary finished her story. “After that Isabelle joined us and we took you back to the institution where Magnus healed you.”

Alec noticed that the red-head had left a very important part of the story untold. 

“I know you didn’t see the explosion, but you must know what happened to me while I was with Magnus.” Alec had to know. This was bugging him too much.

Clary sighed heavily.

“Alec, I really don’t think it’s my place to –“

“Just tell me!”

Clary shut up, her eyes widened with surprise. Alec cursed himself for losing his temper.

“Sorry, just... tell me please?” he asked. Felt more like pleading. 

Clary’s expression softened. She hesitated a bit before continuing. 

“... Okay, but remember I wasn’t there. This is just what Magnus told me”, she said. Alec nodded in response.

Alec and Magnus had gotten separated from the rest of the group pretty early on. Magnus was sure that he could track down the source of the demons, so they kept pushing on. At one point they had come across a very powerful demon. Magnus got into a fight with it, while Alec was being his back up with his arrows. Magnus got the idea of blowing up all the demons at once.

“Magnus said that once he started to do the spell, the demon started to do one too. Just that it was a curse. But Magnus couldn’t stop the spell he was doing mid-way through. He said he didn’t know that the demon would be able to do curses”, Clary paused for a minute. Like checking if it was okay to continue. Alec encouraged her to keep talking.

“The demons were pouring in, and the curse hit the spell Magnus was doing. It went wild and that’s what caused the explosion. Magnus said that you shielded him with your body. You got hit with the curse, the explosion and Magnus’s spell”, Clary finished. “I guess it hit directly your arm and that’s why it isn’t healing.”

Well that explained why he felt like crap. Something didn’t add up though,

“Okay, put there’s one thing in that story that makes no sense”, Alec said frowning a little. “Why on earth would I risk my life for a warlock?”

Clary just stared at him. 

“What?” Alec asked irritated. His whole body was tense.

Then Clary’s phone rang. 

She quickly excused herself from the library to answer it. Alec could see the relief on her face for getting out of the situation.

It was all so irritating. Alec new that everyone was keeping some kind of a huge secret from him. He also had these annoying thoughts in his mind he was too afraid to acknowledge. He couldn’t keep denying them much longer either. Everything was pointing on a very obvious direction, but at the same time, the thought was completely ridiculous. The shadowhunter needed someone to either confirm or deny them. Otherwise he would go crazy.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was half past ten in the evening. Alec was standing behind Isabelle’s room’s door. Actually, he had been standing there for the past five minutes, too scared to knock. 

He was scared that Isabelle was still mad at him and would not talk. That she would just tell him to go talk directly to Magnus. But Alec couldn’t do that. Not yet at least. He felt very ashamed about how he had been treating the warlock, especially since he had saved the shadowhunter’s life. 

On the other hand Alec was scared that Isabelle would talk, thus making him face the truth he was too afraid to even think about. 

But Alec didn’t have more time for his inner monologue when the door suddenly opened and the shadowhunter was greeted with his sister’s grim face.

“Could you not creep behind my door like that, it’s making me uneasy”, Isabelle said, “Come in, if you have something to say.” She walked in the room and sat on her bed. Alec stepped in and closed the door.

“What can I do for you, big brother?” Isabelle asked, looking indifferent. She was avoiding Alec’s gaze, and was instead observing her nails very closely. Alec was pretty sure she was still angry at him, and only pretending to not be interested.

Alec swallowed nervously.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Then ask.”

Alec paused. He was rubbing his injured hand. It itched. The shadowhunter couldn’t believe he was going to ask this. He had never talked about this to anyone. Not even Izzy.

He took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the ground, he couldn’t look his sister in the eyes.

“Have I told you that I’m gay?”

Alec was holding his breath. Waiting. Ready to run out of the room and the whole institution.

“Yes.”

Alec lifted his head up so quickly his neck almost snapped. Isabelle was just sitting there. Calmly. Without any emotions on her face. Like Alec hadn’t just revealed the biggest secret of his life. 

“But this is not what you came to talk to me about, so just tell me what it is you really want to know”, Isabelle said. She wasn’t giving her brother any mercy.

“Okay...” Alec was fidgeting again. He was still in some sort of a shock but decided to just roll with it for now. 

“Did I – Sorry I don’t know how to ask this... Did I have an affair with the warlock...?” Alec could feel his cheeks burning. God this was so humiliating. His heartbeat was getting faster. He was staring at Isabelle like she was holding all the secrets to the world. Which she kind of was. At least to Alec’s world. 

Isabelle blinked a few times.

“No.”

Well that was not the answer Alec was expecting. 

What the hell did she mean by “no”? Then why the fuck was everyone being so weird about the warlock? And why had Alec spent the last day feeling like crap, and struggling with these confusing feelings?

And why wasn’t Alec relieved after hearing that. He was actually kind of disappointed.

“Oh.”

He didn’t know what else to say. If there even was anything to say.

“I’m just going to go then. Drown myself in a tub or something”, Alec announced. He was ready to leave, but suddenly, Isabelle started laughing.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, that was so mean”, she said giggling, “You’ve just been so annoying lately I couldn’t help myself, and technically I wasn’t lying.”

“Um... Wha- what do you mean?” Alec was really confused.

“Well, you asked if you two had an affair. Which technically is the wrong terminology since you two are dating”, Isabelle said casually, while playing with her hair.

Dating.

Alec could feel the pulse on his fingertips. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears. Funny how he had never paid any attention to that before. It seemed so loud at the moment.

“Um... Alec?”

Dating.

A downworlder.

Openly.

“That’s not true”, Alec said gritting his teeth. His hands were on tight fists. He was searching his sister’s eyes, finding any sings that she was deceiving him again. 

“You’re lying!”

“Why would I lie?”

Silence.

Alec felt like Isabelle was piercing through him with her eyes. She wasn’t lying.

He was so tired of fighting this. He opened his fists and released the breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding.

Alec slumped on the bed next to Isabelle, defeated. ”Wh-”, he didn’t even know what to think. What to say. He couldn’t just keep denying it, didn’t even know if he wanted to. Did it even matter anymore?

“Why didn’t he just tell me?”

Isabelle sighed. 

“Who knows what that warlock thinks”, she said and took Alec’s hand on her own, “Maybe he’s just dramatic and wanted to see if you would remember him on your own.” 

Alec stared at his shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world. Surprisingly, they weren’t.

“Or maybe he just didn’t want to deal with the situation, or –“, Isabelle gave an encouraging squeeze on Alec’s hand and continued, “or maybe he knew you weren’t ready to deal with those feelings.”

Alec felt like he could throw up. “What, did he think I would go on a murder-spree or something”, he said lamely.

“Well, honey, you did try to slit his throat, remember?” Isabella said trying to lighten up the mood, but that just made Alec feel worse.

“I’m such an idiot…” Alec muttered and buried his face in his hands, “I said all those horrible things… And I still don’t remember him.”

Isabelle put her hands around her brother and hugged him tightly. “You know it’s not your fault you can’t remember, right? We were all careless”, she said.

“I didn’t have to be such an asshole towards him though”, Alec murmured. Isabelle snorted at that.

“Do you want me to tell you more about Magnus? How you two ended up together?” she offered. 

Alec shook his head. 

“No thanks. I think I need to talk to Magnus next.”

“Well that’s kind of what everyone’s been trying to tell you.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alec didn’t sleep well that night. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the warlock. Sometimes in a rather compromising and confusing situations. He had never felt so betrayed by his own dreams before.

The shadowhunter had woken up sweaty. He had an unpleasant feeling in his stomach, and he didn’t know if he was feeling more horny or guilty. His dreams haunted him and Alec was not looking forward to talking to Magnus. Although, maybe he could ask the warlock to do some more voodoo to make the pain in his arm go away.

Alec got up from the bed and scratched his chin. He had completely forgotten to shave that irritating stubble.

Alec walked to the bathroom and turned the faucet on. He leaned on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror.

He looked horrible.

His sweaty bangs were pressed against his forehead. He had huge bags under his eyes, and fading bruises were decorating his face. His skin looked a little greyish.

Alec sighed and grabbed his razor. At least he could get rid of the stubble.

As he was shaving, his thoughts started to wander around. Not surprisingly, they always ended up on the warlock. Who apparently was his boyfriend.

Alec winced. He had cut himself while thinking about the b-word. 

It just felt so wrong. He hadn’t even dealt with that side of himself yet. Wasn’t ready accept it. At least that’s what he had thought. But apparently he was out of the closet, and in some kind of weird inter-racial relationship with a centuries old magic man. A downworlder none the less. 

Alec felt a panic rising in his chest and had to put the razor down for a minute. 

Did everyone in the institute know? Did his parents know? What did they think about this? They couldn’t approve of it. Was the reason Isabelle couldn’t get a hold of them because they wanted nothing to do with him anymore? Oh god he had completely butchered his career.

What about Jace?

Alec froze.

Jace.

Was he over Jace? He didn’t know.

Some part of him was clinging to the idea of Jace like it was the only thing that mattered, but... For the first time in his life Alec felt that, maybe it didn’t?

Alec looked at himself in the mirror.

Had he actually thought about Jace much these past days? He didn’t think so. At least not in the same way he used to. Sure, he still liked looking at Jace and felt some sort of attraction towards him, but not like before. It was weird.

Was the reason Magnus?

Alec grabbed the towel that was lying on the counter, and wiped the remaining shaving cream off his face. 

He needed to talk to Magnus.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alec stood in the doorway to the study. Inside was Magnus, the reason to all of Alec’s problems, back turned to the door. The warlock was studying some book.

Alec took a deep breath. There were so many voices screaming in his head. Scared. Excited. Angry. Guilty.

He decided to go with hopeful and stopped listening the other voices. The shadowhunter knocked the doorframe and stepped in the room.

Magnus spun around a smirk on his face. Which vanished the second he saw Alec. The warlock put on an emotionless poker face and his whole body tensed up. He was eyeing Alec carefully, like waiting for the shadowhunter to start raging again. 

That made Alec feel a pang of guilt.

“Um... Do you have a second?” Alec asked cautiously. He felt very insecure. And based on the way he had acted lately, he wouldn’t blame Magnus if he decided to throw a fireball in the shadowhunter’s face.

“For you? Always”, Magnus answered, a business smile on his face. Alec felt the distance the warlock was keeping though. If Alec didn’t do something soon he could lose Magnus for good. 

“I actually have something to tell you also, but you go first, Alexander”, the warlock hummed.

Alec scratched his arm. Damn thing itched like crazy.

“Um... I’m not very good at speaking my feelings... But I guess that’s something you would know”, Alec laughed nervously,” Anyways, I talked to Izzy and she told me about us...” Alec felt very tiny. Like he was shrinking under Magnus’s gaze. 

“Oh.” Magnus didn’t sound surprised. He looked like he was still waiting for Alec to either run away or start yelling at him. 

Alec kept scratching his arm. He couldn’t concentrate properly. 

“And... I guess what I’m trying to – I mean, I didn’t know that we – um... what I mean is... Look I’m sorry, okay?” Alec finally caught up with his own thoughts. He tried to search the warlock’s eyes. To understand. But got nothing. Magnus’s face was like a rock. No emotion. That annoying fake smile on his lips.

“Sorry about what?” the warlock asked. His voice sounded strained. And on the closer look the man looked really tired.

Alec swallowed. Guess he didn’t get off the hook so easy.

“I’m sorry about how I treated you. Like some sort of criminal, even though you’ve done nothing but help us”, Alec admitted quietly. The warlock took a sharp breath like he wanted to say something, but didn’t. 

The silence was heavy around them. It would be so much easier if Magnus was actually screaming at Alec and blaming him. The shadowhunter knew how to deal with that. But instead, the warlock waited, letting Alec finish. 

“And... I’m sorry I don’t remember you.” Alec waited. He knew it was a crappy apology. He could see it in the way Magnus was looking at him, the warlock was waiting for something else. But Alec didn’t know how to give him that. The shadowhunter wondered if the old Alec would’ve known. 

Magnus closed his eyes for a second, like calming himself, and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, it’s my fault you lost your memories in the first place”, the warlock said quietly, avoiding Alec’s gaze. He didn’t sound convincing. 

The atmosphere was extremely tense. Alec felt like instead of clearing the air, he had made it worse. But he didn’t know how to make it better. There were lot of unsaid words between them, but they would have to wait. Alec was not mentally ready to dwell on his confusing feelings any deeper.

“Um... So what was it you wanted to talk about?” Alec asked. He felt a bit awkward and wanted to rail the conversation to safer waters.

Magnus’s twitched like he had woken up from a trance.

“Oh right. I know how to get your memories back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment :) next chapters gonna have some more action.


	4. Getting it back

Magnus was surprised. He didn’t know what kind of enlightenment Alec had gotten when the warlock had been away, but two things were certain. 

One. Alec had found out about their relationship.

Two. He didn’t seem that disgusted with the idea. On the contrary, he had actually apologized to Magnus. Very badly, but apologized. And Magnus couldn’t exactly expect an apology full of love, when the shadowhunter couldn’t even remember him. 

Although, Magnus could hear his pettier side nagging about how Alec obviously didn’t care about him enough to even remember. Thankfully, his rational side quickly shut that part down. Yes, Magnus felt hurt about the things Alec had said but he could also understand the boy on some level. Must be weird to suddenly wake up and find your world completely turned upside down. 

“Um... So what was it you wanted to talk about?”

Magnus snapped out of his thoughts and back into the real world. He glanced at Alec who was scratching his arm again.

“Oh right”, Magnus had almost forgotten, “I know how to get your memories back.”

If the situation wasn’t so serious, Magnus would’ve definitely started laughing after seeing the face Alec pulled.

~ 

Well, Magnus maybe knew how to get Alec’s memories back.

No need to tell the shadowhunters that though. The warlock was ninety percent sure his plan would work, and if it didn’t, he would deal with the consequences later. Nothing could be worse than looking in Alec’s eyes and not seeing any signs of him remembering.

At the present the only things Magnus could see in his boyfriend’s eyes were uncertainty. Fear. Anxiety. And other fun things like that. Magnus tried not to think about it much. Instead, he tried to focus on more important things. 

Like the horrible shirt Jace was wearing. One could not simply ignore it.

Alec had called Isabelle, Clary, and his fashion disastrous parabatai to the study. Isabelle was talking quietly to her brother, looking concerned. Alec just shrugged it off, but Magnus didn’t miss the way the shadowhunter touched his arm. 

Jace shut the door to the study after Clary and everyone went quiet. They were all looking at Magnus, waiting for him to tell his master plan. No need to keep them waiting.

Except for dramatic purposes of course, but Magnus didn’t really feel like it at the moment.

The warlock cleared his throat. 

“So as you’ve probably heard I’ve found out who took Alec’s memories”, Magnus started.

“How?” Jace interrupted him immediately. He was glaring angrily around. Like ready to kill whoever took the memories.

“...I was just about to tell that”, Magnus sighed. Clary shoved Jace who let out a lame protest.

“So when I went poking around Alexander’s head earlier”, Magnus smiled apologetically to the shadowhunter, “I found out about a delivery you got. Do you remember that?” the warlock asked Alec.

“Uh... Yeah, mom send me something but I didn’t open it...” the shadowhunter said looking confused.

Magnus smiled at him. “Except you did. You just don’t remember it”, he hummed. Alec frowned.

“I asked Isabelle to do some investigating and – well why don’t you tell us what you found out, dear?” Magnus said, giving Isabelle the floor.

Isabelle stepped forward.

“I made some calls to the clave... And talked to mother about what she remembered from the day”, Isabelle explained, “Apparently the package contained some information for a mission she wanted you to participate in”, she finished looking at Alec.

“It was a long investigation the Clave was holding about warlocks who they suspected were working with demons. Apparently the mission where you lost your memories was ordered by the Clave. We were supposed to scout a possible demon hide-out.”

Magnus nodded along Isabelle’s explanation. Jace wasn’t convinced.

“Wait, how come no one told that to us? I mean, we were the one doing the mission, right?” he asked.

Isabelle sighed. “It was a top-secret investigation that only Alec knew about. They didn’t actually think that the warehouse we found would be the demons’ base, so they didn’t tell us”, she said.

“And they definitely didn’t think that there would be a warlock there”, Magnus chimed in.

The look of confusion on everyone’s face made Magnus smirk. He loved stealing the attention.

“A warlock? I didn’t see any warlock?” Jace huffed. Clary rolled her eyes. 

“Well you were too busy in your rage to kill everything that moved, so it’s no wonder”, she said. 

Alec cut in before Jace could respond.

“How do you know there was a warlock there?” Alec asked trying to rail the conversation back to the right tracks.

“Well the way your memories were taken”, Magnus answered, “It resembled the way I took Clary’s memories a long time ago. No demon could do that, it has to be a warlock.”

“But none of us saw a warlock there”, Isabelle said her brow furrowed. 

“That’s true”, Magnus admitted, “But there was also a lot of commotion going around so it’s possible that we just didn’t notice her.”

“Her?” Alec had picked up on the pronoun.

“Yes, her. I know who it is”, Magnus hummed. 

“How on earth would you know that if you never saw anyone?” Jace asked irritated. 

“If you’d let him finish his explanation you would know”, Isabelle snapped at Jace who went quiet.

“Anyway... I know who it is based on the timeframe when Alec lost his memories”, Magnus explained, “And thanks to the ever intelligent Isabelle, I got my hands on some of the documents that were sent to Alec on the last day he remembered.” Magnus said pulling one document out of his pocket. He folded it open while everyone was waiting for the big reveal.

“There was much information on them about different downworlders who were involved in criminal activities, but only one was a warlock”, Magnus said and gave the document to Alec.

He took it, a sour look on his face.

“Does it look familiar?”

“No.”

Well Magnus hadn’t really expected it to. Alec frowned, reading the document.

“Artemis? Who’s that?” he asked looking up from the paper.

“That, my dear Alexander, is the person who took your memories”, Magnus hummed, very pleased with himself. “About a year ago you received information about this warlock, and now suddenly all of your memories of her have been wiped away. Don’t you think it’s a bit convenient?” he asked.

“I bet that while we were ransacking the warehouse, we actually stumbled onto some pretty important downworlder business. They didn’t have the manpower to take us all out, so the warlock took the memories of the only one who knew what was actually going on there”, Magnus explained, “It gave them time to move their base and cover their tracks.”

Everyone went silent, letting the new information to sink in.

And as always, Jace was the first one to talk.

“Wait – So you mean that if we find this Artemis fellow then –?”

“We could get Alec’s memories back!” Clary cut in enthusiastically. They were both beaming with excitement. Alec on the other hand looked like he couldn’t believe this was happening. He was smiling at Magnus though, and the warlock returned the smile. Finally things started to look better.

“Then what are we waiting for”, Jace was said, “Let’s go capture the bitch!”

“Absolutely not!” Isabelle shouted. She had her brow furrowed and her hands were on tight fists. Everyone went quiet. 

“Alec is in no condition to leave the institution, especially for such a dangerous mission!” Isabelle glared at Jace for even suggesting something so crazy. “Not to mention this ‘Artemis’ is clearly dangerous. We should take this information to the Clave and let them take care of this.”

As much as Magnus loved Isabelle, he had to admit that she could be annoyingly overprotective of her brother sometimes. Based on the deep sigh Alec let out, he was probably thinking the same thing.

“If you think I’m going to just wait home while others risk their life for me, then you really don’t know me that well”, Alec said. He tied to sound calm but that sour expression was making its way back to his face. “Besides Magnus healed me. I can fight”, he finished.

“And it’s not like he can lose the memories again”, Magnus chimed in, not thinking much about it beforehand. Isabelle shot an icy glare at him. She could really look scary when she wanted to.

“See, he’s on my side”, Alec said pointing at Magnus who was now actively trying to avoid eye-contact with Isabelle.

“Well big surprise there”, Jace snorted. 

Contrary to the popular belief, Magnus actually liked Jace. He made some funny remarks sometimes. They were rarely helpful though.

“Not helping Jace”, Alec sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Magnus smiled approvingly to his boyfriend. At least they were still on the same wavelength.

Although, maybe Magnus should stop thinking about Alec as his boyfriend. The shadowhunter hadn’t really told what he thought about their relationship status at the moment, so Magnus didn’t really know what to categorize them as. Not that it was the most important thing right now.

“What and this is all just a joke to you? You’re okay with this?” Isabelle directed her anger at Jace who was caught off guard. “You’re okay with seeing your parabatai as a bloody pulp again, not breathing, every bone broken?” she hissed at Jace, whose smirk quickly vanished from his face.

Isabelle then turned back to Magnus. Taking a few steps towards him. The warlock instinctively took a step back. It’s one of those things you do as a downworlder, when a shadowhunter looks at you like that.

“And you...” Isabelle said pointing at Magnus, her voice cracking, “You’re okay with healing him up again? For hours at a time, too afraid to take a break because the damage was too big. Not knowing if he would ever wake up again.”

Isabelle hadn’t blamed Magnus for what had happened. Not even once. But the sound of her voice made it perfectly clear, that she didn’t trust the warlock to keep her brother safe anymore.

Magnus had never felt so tiny before. He was too ashamed to answer. He just stared at the fury in Isabelle’s eyes.

“I won’t let you put him in any more danger.”

Alec stepped between them.

“Stop it Izzy.”

Magnus stared at Alec’s back. It looked somehow bigger than before.

“It was my own fault for jumping in the danger, so leave the warlock alone,” Alec said firmly. For the first time there was no confusion in his voice. No questioning. The shadowhunter’s voice was calmer than it had been since this whole incident began. He just stood there, defending Magnus, a complete stranger and the reason to all of his problems, against his own sister.

Isabelle opened her mouth to say something but Alec cut her off.

“I know you’re worried of me, and I appreciate it. I really do. But we need to take care of this Artemis, before she can make an even bigger mess”, Alec said putting his hand on his sisters shoulder, “and you and I both know that I’m not just going to sit on the sidelines. We will deal with this.”

Alec gave Isabelle’s shoulder a slight squeeze. 

“With or without you.”

Isabelle brushed off her brother’s hand. 

“Fine”, she hissed. She backed off, still looking angry, but letting the matter go. 

Alec didn’t look at Magnus, but he stayed close to him. Protectively.

Jace cleared his throat.

“Um... So how do we find this Artemis fellow?” he asked. 

“Oh right, I have something for that”, Magnus muttered and pulled a sheet of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket. “Took me a long time to find it, and it wasn’t cheap, but I have the model for a summoning circle that should work”, the warlock hummed trying to sound confident. Which was getting harder by the minute.

Alec looked at him surprised. Jace didn’t look impressed.

“Should work?” the blonde asked skeptical. Magnus smirked at him.

“Well right now it all depends on our master artist.”

~

“I still think this is a bad idea”, Isabelle said loudly for the tenth time, as they arrived at the docks.

Alec sighed.

“We should have at least told someone what we were doing”, she said.

“There’s no way anyone would have given us permission for this”, Jace said irritated, “Come on, we need to check the perimeter.” 

He changed a look with Alec and they started walking towards the warehouse. Their weapons drawn.

“Exactly”, Isabelle muttered, grudgingly following her brothers.

Magnus watched them go. He was a secretly happy that the loud people had left. Gave him some time to think. He turned to face Clary who was staring at the paper very carefully. 

“Are you okay?” Magnus asked smiling sympathetically. Clary glanced at him, her brow furrowed.

“I don’t know... It’s very detailed”, she said sounding anxious. “If I don’t do it correctly who knows what we’ll summon.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we’ll get to it”, Magnus hummed trying to sound as easy-going as possible. No need for all of them to be all doom-and-gloom. It was bad for the morale.

“So is this a general summoning circle for warlocks? Or just for Artemis?” Clary asked, she looked fascinated with the paper. “How do we get it to work?”

Magnus would have to choose his words carefully.

“... It’s the general kind. You just need to draw it, I’ll take care of the rest”, Magnus said masking his face with a smile. 

Clary wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“Could I use it to summon you?”

Thankfully they were interrupted by Jace who ran back to them.

“The perimeters clear, it should be okay to get in”, he informed them. Clary stuffed the paper back in her bag, the conversation forgotten. They walked up to the warehouse where the Lightwood siblings waited for them. The mood was tense so Magnus guessed that Alec hadn’t patched things up with Isabelle yet.

“Shall we then?” Jace asked, his hand on the massive door’s handle. Alec gave him a subtle nod, and the blonde pushed the doors open.

The doors let out a loud cracking noise and the shadowhunters charged in with their weapons. Magnus stayed outside for a bit, letting them play soldiers. The warlock knew there was no one in the general area besides them, but shadowhunters were stubborn people. Always needed to make sure for themselves. 

Magnus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was a warm day. The sun was shining and there wasn’t even a slight breeze. Everything was quiet, even the birds weren’t singing. Felt like a calm before a storm.

“It’s clear!” Jace yelled from inside and Magnus opened his eyes. He walked in the warehouse. It was huge. Without all the demons around, the place looked so normal.

Clary had already took out his chalk and was sitting in the middle of the room, intensively studying the paper. Jace was sitting on some metal stairs leading up to a terrace, looking at her. He tried to make some jokes about struggling artists, which Clary kindly laughed at.

Alec was staring at them his brow furrowed. Magnus still didn’t know what Alec’s feelings about Jace were. It made the warlock a bit jealous, but those childish feelings would have to wait. He walked up to the shadowhunter. Alec glanced at him, but quickly turned his gaze away. 

“So... where’d your sister go?” Magnus asked. He didn’t see Isabelle anywhere. Alec released a deep breath.

“She went to check the entrance to the basement. Wouldn’t want any demons to interrupt us”, he explained lamely.

“There aren’t any demons here, but I guess you guys wouldn’t take my word from it”, Magnus laughed flatly, “After all, I was wrong before and look where it got us.”

Alec glanced at him looking uncomfortable. 

“I’m sure that’s not the reason”, he tried to defend his sister, “She just doesn’t know how to sit still.”

“I know, it’s just – Does your arm hurt?” Magnus asked. He couldn’t help but notice Alec was scratching it again. 

Alec froze and dropped his arm immediately.

“It’s nothing, just itches a little bit”, he said evasively, staring intensively at Jace. Something boiled up inside Magnus but he suppressed it quickly. No need to start a fight. They would be here at least for a couple of hours waiting for Clary to finish the summoning circle. 

Since when had Magnus become unreasonably jealous anyway? It wasn’t his style.

Still, Magnus didn’t have the patient to watch Alec deal with his confusing feelings so the warlock pulled out his phone and started to scroll through his twitter feed. At least he got something to do while Clary finished the circle. 

~

“I’m going to die out of boredom.”

Magnus glanced at Jace who was slouching on the stairs. The shadowhunter was drawing some crude pictures on the floor with one of Clary’s chalks. They had been waiting for two hours now. Most of the time with Jace complaining.

“No one’s forcing you to be here”, Isabelle snapped at him. She hadn’t found anything to kill in the basement and was in a bad mood. She was kneeling in the floor next to Clary, watching her draw. Clary on the other hand had been quiet for most of the time. She was concentrating as hard as she could to the drawing. 

Alec had also been quiet. The shadowhunter had just been watching everyone, not saying anything. Every once in a while he glanced at Magnus, but always turned his head away, looking embarrassed. Magnus would pay almost anything to find out what was going on inside his head right now. After Alec had apologized, he had been very polite and respectful towards the warlock. Also awkward. Very awkward.

At least it seemed like he wanted his memories back. Which meant that he wanted to remember Magnus again. That gave the warlock some hope.

Clary let out small laugh and threw the chalk away.

“It’s finished”, she said looking pleased with herself. The girl had a contagious smile, it always made Magnus smile.

“Excellent! I expected nothing else from you”, Magnus praised her while circling the drawing on the floor. It looked perfect.

“Finally...” Jace huffed and jumped up from the stairs. Isabelle helped Clary up from the floor, while Alec wandered closer to the group. They all looked eager to get some action.

“Before we start, I need to make sure of something”, Magnus said and walked in front of Alec. “Are you sure about this?” he asked the shadowhunter quietly. Alec looked like he might throw up any minute.

“If you want to turn back now, I – we understand”, Magnus said. It was complete bullshit, but Alec had the right to choose. He had the right to turn his back on the painful past, and instead move on. Even if it meant a life without Magnus.

Magnus felt his throat tighten when Alec hesitated. Alec knew what Magnus was asking of him. If the shadowhunter chose to go through with this, it meant he wanted his memories about Magnus back. He would have to face the truth he had tried so hard to deny.

Everyone was looking at Alec. Waiting for his answer. Alec on the other hand was staring at Jace.

He swallowed.

“No. I want to do this”, Alec said, sounding a bit unsure. 

“Well of course you do, you dork”, Jace said irritated, “Now could we stop stalling and get this over with.”

Magnus sighed. He wasn’t completely satisfied with that answer but it was the best he would get. The warlock turned away from Alec and walked next to the circle.

“Get a little back, will you? We don’t know what will happen”, he said seriously. The shadowhunter’s took a few steps back. Everyone except Alec, who remained in his place, behind Magnus. 

Magnus lifted his arms up and swung them around in a quick, swift motion. The middle of the summoning circle lit up for a second.

“I placed a freezing ward to the floor. It should entrap Artemis for a while, but we don’t have much time”, Magnus said glancing behind himself, “Don’t get too close to her, we don’t know what she’ll do. Just... Be the backup”, he said to Alec. 

The shadowhunter opened his mouth to protest but Magnus was faster.

“Please?” Magnus asked trying to smile bravely. He hoped he didn’t sound as pathetic as he felt.

Alec closed his mouth and nodded.

Magnus started the summoning spell and the circle on the floor began to glow.

Magnus closed his eyes.

He hadn’t used such an old method to get a hold of a warlock for centuries. Usually he just called them on a cellphone. But since he didn’t know anything about Artemis, they were running out of options.

Using the summoning circle was risqué though. It didn’t work that well on high-warlocks, since they could easily resist it. At least if an amateur tried to do the summoning. 

Magnus hoped that he wouldn’t blow everything up. He hadn’t felt that confident in his skills lately.

The warlock took a sharp breath. He had felt it. It was faint but it was there. The presence he had felt when Alec was attacked. It tried to hide but Magnus grabbed onto it with all of his stubbornness and pulled. The presence didn’t resist much.

“Does that mean it is working?” Clary whispered, shattering Magnus’s concentration. The ground had started to shake. Magnus opened his eyes and saw the circle on the floor staring to glow in dark red.

“Be ready, she will be here soon”, Magnus said grimly. He felt lightheaded but decided to ignore it.

Red smoke started to erupt from the circle. It swarmed around the room and in just a few seconds Magnus couldn’t see anything. The warlock took a few steps back and bumped into Alec. He instinctively grabbed the shadowhunter’s hand.

“Don’t wander off, she’s planning something”, Magnus hissed when Alec tried to pull his hand away. 

“I can’t use my bow like this”, the shadowhunter whispered. His voice was low, and the warm breath that caressed Magnus’s ear send shivers down his spine. 

Right. There was a murderous warlock about to kill them all.

Magnus released Alec’s hand embarrassed, but stayed close to him.

Magnus could hear Jace cursing, fumbling around in the smoke. He didn’t know where the girls were, but hoped they were okay. Time to get rid of the smoke.

Magnus turned around quickly, grabbed the collar of Alec’s jacket and pulled the taller man down so they were face-to-face. The expression Alec was making was priceless.

Magnus leaned close to the shadowhunter’s ear and whispered.

“I’m going to get rid of the smoke. The freezing ward has probably lost its effect already so get ready to shoot.” Magnus leaned back so he could see Alec’s face. He was slightly red on his cheeks so Magnus couldn’t resist the temptation and winked at him.

Before Alec could react Magnus released his collar and stepped back. The warlock turned around to the general direction of the summoning circle and lifted his arms in a straight line to his sides. A strong wind started to twirl around them, pushing back the smoke. Magnus could hear Alec fumbling to keep a hold of his bow. Maybe it made the warlock smirk a little.

The red smoke tried to swarm its way right back in, but Magnus’s spell was stronger and it soon cleared all the smoke out.

Except they were no longer in the warehouse.

“What the hell...” Alec said behind Magnus. The warlock should have seen it coming. It had been so obvious.

“We were teleported, the smoke was just to distract us”, Magnus answered gritting his teeth together.

Shit.

Magnus looked around them. They were in an enormous hall. The walls, floor and ceiling were all covered in cement. There were no windows. They were probably in one of the rooms in the maze under the warehouse. 

There was no sign of Clary, Jace or Isabelle.

No Artemis either,

“This is bad”, Magnus said uneasy, “She’s separated us.”

Just like last time.

And Alec had gotten hurt.

“You thought I was going to fight four shadowhunters and a high-warlock all at once?”

Suddenly before them appeared a woman from red smoke. Alec quickly pulled an arrow and lifted his bow. Magnus squinted his eyes.

“I have to admit, I was curious to see who tried to summon me”, the woman said, stepping out of the smoke. “I wasn’t expecting a fellow warlock to fight alongside these scum.” 

“Yeah, well this scum’s going to shoot an arrow through your brain”, Alec growled but didn’t actually go through with his threat. 

The woman tilted his head, looking at Magnus. Like she hadn’t even heard Alec’s remark. She made Magnus feel uneasy. There was something off with her. The way her face conveyed no emotion, her voice steady like a recording.

“She’s dangerous, don’t make her mad”, Magnus warned Alec. The shadowhunter just grunted in response.

“I’m going to assume you’re Artemis”, Magnus said forcing a smile on his face. The woman wasn’t the only one who could pull a poker face. 

Magnus took a closer look at the woman. Her stance was as non-threatening as possible. She was slouching a little, and the baggy clothes she was wearing made her look much smaller than she was. Her brown hair was on a messy bun and if it weren’t for those blood-red eyes, that had the expression of a ruthless killer, she would look like a child.

The medallion she was wearing around her neck caught Magnus’s eye. It was golden and looked old, it stood out considerably from the rest of her outfit.

“Yes, some do call me that”, Artemis answered in her creepy robot voice. Magnus swallowed. He would have to try and stall until the others got here. He didn’t want to start fighting the woman alone. He was at a huge disadvantage, since he would also have to keep Alec safe.

Isabelle had been right. This was a bad idea.

“I would like to know what happened to the rest of our party”, Magnus hummed, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. Which probably was pointless with Alec pointing his arrows at Artemis.

Not that she even seemed to notice.

“I wouldn’t know. I followed you here”, Artemis answered, glancing at the ceiling. “My guess would be that they’re fighting the demon horde upstairs.”

That’s it for the backup then. Magnus would have to come up with a plan to get both himself and Alec out of there as quickly as possible.

He could try making a portal but that would probably take too long. 

"So you are really working with the demons then?" Magnus asked trying to get some information out of Artemis. She didn't answer. Just stared at Magnus with those big red eyes.

Alec was growing impatient.

“Cut the crap warlock. Are you the one who took my memories?” Alec barked at her. Magnus wanted to slap him.

For the first time Artemis turned her gaze to Alec, like only now realizing he was there. Magnus instinctively stepped closer to his boyfriend. 

“You’re the one whose memories I got?” Artemis asked, subtly touching the medallion around her neck. “Huh. I imagined you’d be older. So many bad memories”, she said switching her gaze between Alec and Magnus.

Alec didn’t seem to appreciate the fact that she had apparently poked around his memories.

“Well if they aren’t to your liking you can always give them back!” Alec growled, sending an arrow flying.

Before it could hit Artemis, she vanished in a puff of red smoke. The arrow hit a wall.

Magnus really wanted to slap Alec now. Instead he quickly turned around to face his idiot boyfriend.

“Are you insane? Now she’s going to attack us!” Magnus hissed at the shadowhunter. The warlock didn’t lose his cool often but Alec had a way of making him feel all sorts of things.

“Well isn’t that why we’re here in the first place? To kill her?” Alec snapped back at him. He had lowered his bow and was scratching his injured arm again. For some reason it irritated Magnus even more.

“So your plan is to just attack without knowing anything about her! That’s exactly the kind of conceited way of thinking that shadowhunters –“ 

Magnus’s rant was cut short when a fireball hit his side, sending him flying across the room.

“SHIT! Magnus you okay!” Alec yelled and ran to check on the warlock.

Magnus was grasping for air. His left ear was ringing and he could smell burning fabric. He lied on the floor on his back trying to stop his head from spinning.

Alec knelt down next to him and started to pat down the little flames on his clothes. The shadowhunter was cursing heavily.

“I – I’m okay, if the room would just stop spinning”, Magnus coughed and tried to get up. Alec helped him to sit up. 

“Shit this is all my fault I’m so sorry I –“

Alec rambled his apologies but Magnus wasn’t listening. 

Artemis was standing behind the shadowhunter, a sword in her raised hand. She was looking Magnus straight in the eyes. Wearing a smile that revealed all of her teeth.

Magnus managed to conjure a barrier barely in time, when Artemis slashed her sword down. It clanked off the barrier and Artemis vanished again in smoke before Magnus could do anything.

Alec jumped up pulling his seraph blade out. 

“Shit... Fast bitch...” he mumbled when he noticed Artemis was nowhere to be seen. The shadowhunter helped Magnus up from the floor. 

“We need to be careful. That teleporting ability of hers shouldn’t be taken lightly”, Magnus groaned. He was pretty sure he had fractured a rib or two, but that would have to wait.

“Oh, you still have something of mine I see.”

Magnus hadn’t noticed it. It was his fault.

Artemis was standing beside Alec. She was grinning like she had gone mad. Before neither of them could do anything, Artemis grabbed Alec’s injured arm and squeezed.

Magnus had never heard anyone let out more horrible scream than Alec. He fell in the ground grabbing his arm and Artemis vanished giggling like crazy.

“Alec what’s wrong?” Magnus tried to get the shadowhunter to speak. He was too afraid to go check on his boyfriend in case Artemis decided to attack again.

“FUCK!”

And that was the only thing Alec elaborated on. Other than that he was grunting and groaning on the floor. Cradling his bandaged arm.

Magnus groaned and knelt before Alec, glancing around every once in a while.

“Show it to me, Alexander”, Magnus tried to speak gently, but he had to basically tear Alec’s other hand out of the way so he could see the injured arm.

The bandages were smoking.

“What the hell...” Magnus mumbled to himself. It was impossible.

“Ma-make it stop Magnus”, Alec basically begged, fighting back tears. 

Under the bandages, black streaks on Alec’s skin started stretch out. His veins became visible and the skin started to get grey.

Magnus was so sure he had gotten rid of that damn curse. But apparently there had been enough left so Artemis could make it active again.

The only thing Magnus could do for Alec now was to capture the crazy warlock. Getting rid of the curse would take too long.

“Just... Think of happy thoughts!” Magnus shouted and jumped up. He was glancing around frantically. Artemis had to be somewhere.

“What?!” Alec shouted in disbelief. Tears had started to gather in his eyes and he was shaking.

But Magnus couldn’t afford to worry about him now. Otherwise they would both be dead. 

So he started to run in the opposite direction that Alec was at. Artemis would surely try to kill Magnus next since she had already had her fun with the shadowhunter. No need to put Alec in any more danger. 

It hurt Magnus though. Hearing Alec’s pained shouts and not being able to do anything about it.

“Looking for me”, a high pitched sound asked just behind Magnus. But he was ready this time.

In a second Magnus bursted out blue flames in every direction. They didn’t hit Artemis though. 

Magnus stopped and turned around. The woman was gone again.

“Why don’t you stop fighting like a coward and face me.” It was a pathetic attempt at taunting the enemy but Magnus was running out of time.

It worked though.

With a puff of red smoke, Artemis appeared right in front of Magnus. Her face warped into an ugly grin.

“Well aren’t you starting to sound like one of them”, she said pointing mockingly at Alec who was squirming on the floor.

Magnus didn’t pay attention to it anymore though. He had seen something in the other side of the room.

“And how noble of you to fight so bravely even though you can barely stand up, am I right, hmm?” she hummed and took a step closer to Magnus.

She was wrong. Magnus had no intention of fighting her anymore. Only to keep her distracted.

“And what would you know of nobility. Siding with the demons”, Magnus spitted. He started to conjure a blue fireball in his arms. It was all for show though. He had enough strength for one major spell anymore, and it wasn’t going to be a fireball.

Artemis giggled at his pathetic attempt. 

“It’s a pity. I really don’t like killing other wa – “

Her sentence was cut short when she suddenly fell face first on to the floor. She turned on the floor quickly to see Isabelle who had tripped her with the whip.

“You bitch”, Artemis growled raising her hands. But she was too slow.

Magnus released the blue flames he had conjured in his arms and sent them to attack Artemis. The flames surrounded her body, squeezing tightly and hardening into bindings. 

Artemis tried to teleport, but couldn’t.

“It’s not going to work, give up”, Magnus said out of breathe. “I have never been this happy to see you”, he added smirking to Isabelle. She smiled back at him.

“Well you guys sure took your sweet time”, Alec groaned in the floor. Jace ran up to him and helped him get up.

“Dude, you need more training”, he said smirking. Alec snorted.

“But seriously, are you okay?” Jace asked his parabatai sounding concerned. Alec nodded. His arm was limp and grey, but the curse had started to fade again.

“The pain stopped when Izzy tripped the warlock”, Alec said smiling at Jace. Jace slapped his back laughing.

Magnus looked away, feeling jealousy lifting its ugly head again. It looked like Alec would live. Magnus could heal him when they’d get back to the institution. 

Magnus walked up to Clary. She looked tired and beaten up.

“Are you all okay?” Magnus asked her quietly. Clary smiled and nodded. Magnus felt a huge weight disappear from his heart. At least his stupidity hadn’t gotten anyone killed yet.

“What do we do with the warlock?” Isabelle asked. She was standing beside Artemis, who was back to wearing her emotionless expression. She looked absolutely bored sitting on the floor, bound by Magnus’s spell. 

Magnus walked up to Artemis and knelt before her. She looked at him, not saying anything. Magnus placed his palm on her forehead and she fell unconscious. 

Magnus let her fall on the floor before yanking the medallion from her neck.

“We take her back to the institution. Let the Clave interrogate her”, Magnus answered studying the medallion. “We already have what we need.”

Isabelle nodded.

“Is that where my memories are?” Alec asked. He and Jace had joined the group.

Such a small thing, making Magnus’s life a living hell. The warlock could feel the medallion pulsing on his palm. 

“Yes”, Magnus answered, “Are you ready?” a stupid question, but Magnus asked it anyway. Alec looked anxious. His eyes were opened wide and his jaw was tense.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess...” Alec murmured, eyeing the medallion like it might explode any minute.

“Here I go then”, Magnus gave the warning and lit a small flame on his hand. He let it grow, until it completely covered the medallion. The artifact’s barriers were lousy, and the flame soon started to melt the gold around it.

Magnus couldn’t take his eyes of Alec, who in return was staring at the medallion. Magnus didn’t actually know if he could give the memories back to the shadowhunter, but that’s not something he would tell Alec. Yes, the memories were inside the medallion, that much Magnus could confirm. But he didn’t know if the crazy warlock lady had done something to them, if the memories were fully Alec’s anymore.

Magnus didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t succeed.

The medallion began to shine brightly. Alec took a sharp breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone needs to stop me. These chapters are just getting longer and longer.
> 
> Anyways, next chapters going to be the last one! Please leave a comment :) Also if anyone's interested in what Artemis looks like, I did a little drawing of her [here](http://pilvipine.tumblr.com/post/147686758264/an-oc-from-my-shadowhunters-fic-not-so-great)


End file.
